Largest Public Pensions Report Record Investment Earnings
The 100 largest public pension plans earned $179.2 billion on investments in the first quarter, the most since the U.S. Census Bureau began collecting the data in 1974.
Total holdings and investments rose 5.6 percent in the quarter to $2.8 trillion, the second-highest level since U.S. equities markets collapsed in 2008 amid the worst recession since the 1930s, the census said in a report today.
Stocks increased 17.6 percent in the quarter to $967.2 billion, the report said, as corporate bonds fell 6.9 percent to $371.9 billion. International securities climbed 16.3 percent to $550 billion.
U.S. public pension funds have been struggling to restore funding levels since the recession left many with fewer assets to pay future benefits to retirees. States by 2010 had 74.6 percent of the assets needed to pay pension obligations, down from 82.8 percent in 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporter on this story: Darrell Preston in Dallas at dpreston@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Merelman at smerelman@bloomberg.net
U.S. Public-Pension Systems Have Record Earnings on Investments
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union, participate in a rally in front of the Maryland State Capitol building to protest Governor Martin O'malley’s proposed changes to state workers’ pensions.
Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union, participate in a rally in front of the Maryland State Capitol building to protest Governor Martin O'malley’s proposed changes to state workers’ pensions. Photographer: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
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